New York City has reportedly become the latest organisation to ban TikTok on government devices over security concerns.
The administration of New York City mayor Eric Adams told Reuters that the social media app “posed a security threat to the city’s technical networks.”
After a period of 30 days, employees of New York city will be unable to access TikTok on devices and networks owned by the city.
The move comes after a number of governments and organisations recently banned TikTok or prevented employees from using the app on their systems.
In April, Republican lawmakers in Montana passed a bill to ban TikTok in the state. TikTok later sued the state, arguing that the ban violates the First Amendment rights of the company and its users.
Elsewhere, both Australian and Canadian governments banned the use of TikTok work devices.
The EU Commission also banned TikTok from both corporate and personal devices over cybersecurity concerns, while the Danish public-service broadcaster DR advised employees not to use TikTok on their devices after a security review and warnings from Denmark’s Centre for Cyber Security.
Meanwhile in Scotland, members of parliament and employees working in Holyrood were “strongly advised” to remove the app from their devices. The UK government also banned TikTok on work devices citing the need to keep sensitive information secure.
In March, the ByteDance-owned company announced new security measures due to fears over how user data is shared with China. These include storing data locally and using an external security firm to monitor data flows.
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